O Espaço do Tempo is a transdisciplinary artistic structure, founded in 2000 by choreographer Rui Horta at Convento da Saudação, Montemor-o-Novo (Portugal). Ever since then, this structure has welcomed and supported many international and national artists, being a decisive and fulcral point for the development of many of their works.

The main activity of O Espaço do Tempo has been an extensive program of artistic residencies especially focused on the contemporary performing arts, in the emergent creation and critical thinking, as well as promoting the public presentation of premieres, previews, rehearsals and open talks, the regular programming for families and schools, in a close relationship with the community and the local territory, and the many activities focused on education and investigation. 

O Espaço do Tempo also awards the most substantial grants for artistic creation in Portugal, and mantains solid institutional and artistic partnerships - local, national and international - by being a member of some of the most important networks for the cooperation, circulation and diffusion of the contemporary performing arts in Europe, like Aerowaves, European Dancehouse Network or IETM - International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts. 

Beyond that, O Espaço do Tempo promotes and organizes the Portuguese Platform for Performing Arts, a biennial event where the most relevant works in the Portuguese performing arts are presented to a hundred programmers, curators and artistic directors, national and international. This has been the most important platform for the internationalization of the Portuguese performing arts, which, associated with the continued activity of O Espaço do Tempo, has played an important role in the international trajectory of artists and structures such as Marlene Monteiro Freitas, Tiago Rodrigues, Tânia Carvalho, Teatro Praga, mala voadora, Jonas & Lander, Gaya de Medeiros, Diana Niepce, Marco da Silva Ferreira, Sofia Dias e Vítor Roriz, among others.

Over more than 20 years, O Espaço do Tempo has been through several different stages. Until 2010, the natural growth of the structure was accompanied by different supports, creating the stability that allowed for the project to be consolidated. However, between 2011 and until 2015, and despite the serious economical crisis that Portugal was involved in, the number of artistic residencies doubled, which strongly contributed to the resilience of the performing arts sector in Portugal.

In 2019, after one of the main domes fell in Convento da Saudação and due to the lack of conditions and safety, O Espaço do Tempo was forced to temporarily leave the emblematic national monument from the 17th century, which had been the structure's home since its foundation. The space is currently undergoing structural restoration work, and it's expected that by 2026 O Espaço do Tempo will return to Convento da Saudação. 

O Espaço do Tempo occupies today the former premises of Oficina Magina, an industrial building located in the city center and with two equipped studios. At the same time, O Espaço do Tempo remains active in two other spaces ⎯ Blackbox and XL Box, our new space with big dimmensions for bigger scale productions. It's also important to note that O Espaço do Tempo develops its activity with environmental sustainability practices, through responsible consumption policies and local products, combating waste and promoting the local economy.

In 2018, O Espaço do Tempo was awarded the Gulbenkian Knowledge Prize.